Shadowfist Games
sponsored several tournaments at Origins
2010 (Columbus, Ohio, 22-26 June 2010). Braz King and Daniel Griego posted the
list of winners to the Shadowfist Forum on Yahoogroups (why not to Shadowfist.com??)
on June 27. You can read the originals here
and here
in the Yahoo archive if you are a member.

Origins 2010 Report
by Daniel Griego

This year, the
Origins Game Fair celebrated its 35th year and pulled no punches in promoting
its long tradition of bringing great games to Columbus, Ohio. To that end, Inner
Kingdom Games had remarkably good fortune in recruiting new players and bringing
old ones back into the fold.

As the first scheduled
event of the long weekend, the demo block acts as the ideal introduction for
new players to learn Shadowfist and later compete in a national tournament.
This was certainly the case for five such demoers, who went on to collectively
compete in the Whirlpool of Blood, Comrades in Arms and Final Brawl tournaments
throughout the convention. Of the nine demo participants, the father and daughter
team of Paul and Kalynn Turner, along with returning veteran Lovell Harmon and
his sons Akil and Justin, took it to the next level with competitive play right
out the gate.

The first tournament
kicked off Friday morning with the 10am Whirlpool of Blood draft event. Featuring
booster packs of hard to find packs like Boom Chaka Laka and Two-Fisted Tales,
the tournament boasted some amazing players throwing down in remarkable contests
of skill and might. In the end, there could be only one winner and to Jeff "Cavebear"
Stroud went the spoils. Second place went to newcomer Kalynn and I rounded out
the top three.

That evening brought
out the designator battles with the Comrades in Arms tournament. With a perfect
nine players, the four-round event saw everything from Hoods and Monkeys to
Secrets and Paradoxes. Braz King took top honors with his pun-filled deck, "Two
Doctors." John Merrill earned second place and Jeff "Cavebear"
Stroud came in third.

Saturday morning
brought out the finest Origins had to offer for the 2010 National Championship.
After three four-player rounds, the top finalists went on to play an epic finals
round lasting more than six hours. Braz King, Tim Linden, Jeff Stroud and Shane
Snavley squared off for top multi-player honors in a knock-down, drag-out, kick
'em while they're down melee of endurance and strength. The
battle that started with four warriors ended with three, following Braz King’s
decking after a fatal attempt for the win after hour four. In the end, Tim Linden's
unstoppable Dr. Amanda Snow outfitted with Fortunes of the Turtle and more than
a dozen other states prevailed against Cavebear's tanks and Shane's Syndicate
forces.

Saturday night
concluded with the few players hardcore enough to engage in the dueling tournament.
John Merrill, Greg Zimmerman and I played six round-robin games with high points
taking away the prize. In an anomaly of mathematics, Greg and John scored the
exact same number of match points and game points, with first place going to
Greg for having fewer Secret War Society points than John.

Sunday concluded
Origins with the final tournament: New Heroes. With only four players in attendance,
the event included two untimed swiss rounds lasting a total of more than five
hours. John Merrill earned his title and plaque with a first round win and second
round burn to become the 2010 New Heroes National Champion.

The convention
was an outstanding time for all with some great games played by veterans and
novices alike.Many thanks to everyone who came out to Columbus for the Shadowfist
Nationals!